Summer Reading List

I have perused
1000 Places to See before You Die by Patricia Schultz
Not In Kansas Anymore: A Curious Tale of How Magic is Transforming America by Christine Wicker.

I have read
Simple Spells for Success by Barrie Dolnick
Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire
The Crow: Temple of Night by S.P. Somtow
Dead Sleep by Greg Iles

School's out for the Summer!

Not quite a week since I finished my last Final Exam of the Spring Semester . . .

I have perused 1000 Places to See before You Die by Patricia Schultz and Not In Kansas Anymore: A Curious Tale of How Magic is Transforming America by Christine Wicker.

I have read Simple Spells for Success by Barrie Dolnick and Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire.

I have visited Green Man and cleaned up some scrap wood and made work plans for my next visit.

I have sketched, sanded, cut, and started painting a VIP Lounge sign for JL.

I have taken a nap, stayed up late, fell asleep early, played cards, and knitted.

All in all it's been a fabulous near week.

Now I'm going to pay some bills and figure out what to do with the rest of the morning before work.

Daydreaming

I'm in the library working on a paper . . .

But I've stopped to daydream about the Summer.

I would like to:

Finish the Bunny Board
Paint a bit on the canvas (The Bath)
Knit
Read for pleasure
Open the windows and air out the house
Go camping at Green Man
Get a roof and doors on Green Man Cottage
Get a porch up to the front door of the cottage
Plot my circular garden
Finish Sarah's socks

Prissmas is Saturday!

Don't forget! ! ! !

This Saturday is PRISSMAS!

It's the holiday dedicated to "I Told You So."

So put on your aprons and leis and pull out all the times you bit your tongue this year and let loose!

Burn something. Spit cheap liquor into it.

Paint a dead tree pink and decorate it with crabs and rats.

To Do List - 11 Days to Go

DONE
Bobbie Jo's scarf
Mandy's scarf
SOMETHING for Cat.
Catch up with the girls.
Doubleknit project of mine (I frogged it).
Daydream.
Clean up the yard. (As much as I could without the clippers.)
Start and finish a knitting project for ME! (I'm taking it off the list)
Rearrange the furniture.
Sort my yarn stash.
Laundry.
Watch movies.
Go for a walk.
Finish that book.
Refine my online personas
Journey to Jupiter
New Bar Prices

WORKING
Socks for Sarah. (only one 2/3s done)
Clean the hell out of the house.
Declutter, putting everything in its place.

YET TO START
Buy my Spring semester books.
Nap.
Juggle my credit card bills.
Plan the circular garden at the cottage.
Maybe find a letterbox.
Pull together my teacher portfolio.
Get acquainted with the PRAXIS II tests.
Pub Crawl in Buffalo
ISIS puzzle
Painting
New Bar models

18 Days to Go

I was working so diligently to get the final knitting projects done for Christmas (that Judeo Christian religious holiday that supplanted Yule) that I haven't thought beyond the 25th. It came as a complete surprise to me that I have to work on the day after.

My SUPER deadlined knitting projects are done and I should probably tackle something around the house. Fiddle dee dee. Maybe another cup of coffee before I decide what to do next.

DONE
Bobbie Jo's scarf
Mandy's scarf
SOMETHING for Cat. She got these.


WORKING
Catch up with the girls.
Doubleknit project of mine.
Socks for Sarah. (only one 2/3s done)
Daydream.
Clean up the yard.
Start and finish a knitting project for ME!
Clean the hell out of the house.
Declutter, putting everything in its place.
Watch movies.
Laundry.
Rearrange the furniture.
Sort my yarn stash.

YET TO START
Go for a walk.
Finish that book.
Buy my Spring semester books.
Nap.
Juggle my credit card bills.
Plan the circular garden at the cottage.
Maybe find a letterbox.
Pull together my teacher portfolio.
Get acquainted with the PRAXIS II tests.
Refine my online personas

Fun things I've added, but probably shouldn't have, but am going to anyway!
Pub Crawl in Buffalo
ISIS puzzle
Painting
Journey to Jupiter
New Bar Prices
New Bar models

What Have I Been Up To?

Winter semester of Shepherd is finally done. My last exam was Thursday. Whew. Now I just sit and wait for the final grades to be posted.

I'm hopeful but not confident. So no fretting, because it's not productive.

Speaking of not productive.

I worked Friday and Saturday, so yesterday was my first day of unscheduled bliss.

For six hours straight I played Killer Bunnies and the Journey to Jupiter. Two games in six hours. I won the first one and Captain Nerdulon won the second.

Captain Nerdulon is Rick. We have assigned this name because we feel like such geeks when we argue the finer points of play. Imagine the white tape on our glasses that we push up constantly with one finger while we make awkward snorting sounds and say something like "The Beyea aliens are locked onto your ship. Until it's destroyed you can't launch another ship into space. You should use your long-range transporter to transfer your bunnies and markers to the armor-plated ship that has a die power of ten as soon as it comes into a direct line of sight. Now let's move the planets."

That was yesterday. After Captain Nerdulon left, I sat down to knit some more. I couldn't hold out. I started a new project on Thursday and have been neglecting the older projects that are still on needles.

I work again tonight, so I'm torn between raking the yard, cleaning house, and sitting on my but knitting. Oh, and I have a book I could read.

This four week break is going to go by so quickly.

On the needles...

Bobbie Jo's scarf (need to add fringe)
Mandy's scarf (need to knit about 2/3s more)
Doubleknit project of mine.
Socks for Sarah. (only one 2/3s done)
SOMETHING for Cat. She's been begging me to knit her something and I was eager to start a new project. I think it's really neat, and not my colors at all.

Okay so my list of things to do in four weeks (school starts again four weeks from today).

Finish those five knitting projects.
Start and finish a knitting project for ME!
Clean up the yard.
Go for a walk.
Clean the hell out of the house.
Declutter, putting everything in its place.
Daydream.
Laundry.
Rearrange the furniture.
Finish that book.
Buy my Spring semester books.
Nap.
Catch up with the girls.
Watch movies.
Juggle my credit card bills.
Plan the circular garden at the cottage.
Sort my yarn stash.
Maybe find a letterbox.
Pull together my teacher portfolio.
Get acquainted with the PRAXIS II tests.
Refine my online personas.

The End of Summer

I know, we're already well into Fall, but Samhain is fast approaching and that means "summer's end."

I feel better today than I have in quite a while and I don't know if I'm simply in denial of all that needs to be done or if I'm actually in a good place.

I slept in this morning, much to the dismay of Blue (the cat), and I'm sure to the annoyance of my husband. (Just how many times CAN one push the snooze alarm?)

I did eventually get up, let the dogs (and cat) out, set the coffee maker brewing, showered, and sipped coffee. I got my schoolbooks together and headed out the door about 30 minutes later than usual.

I drove to campus and watched the sky lighten up in the east and daydreamed a little about a future art project.

I really didn't feel pressed for time or effort this morning.

I do believe I'm working in an ignorance as bliss sort of mode right now. I don't KNOW of anything that is due immediately for any of my classes because I've not looked at my syllabus since turning in all the stuff that was due this week.

Ahhhhhhh. (Contented sigh.)

I will take all of my folders to work with me tonight and plot out on the lap top all that is due and when it is due for the rest of the semester and try to get a little ahead here and there.

Just to share with anyone who happens to visit...

Today,
Finances: all the month's bills are in the mail, gas tank's full.
School: whatever was due is turned in. Midterms are over.
Home: it's a little messy, but comfortably so.
Heart: he loves me and I love him.
Friends: wonderfully patient and looking forward to spending time with them

8-Ball Outlook? Good.

Read a Banned Book Week !

This list of banned books is from Randomhouse.com

BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

LYNNE REID BANKS
Indian in the Cupboard

JUDY BLUME
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Blubber
Deenie
Tiger Eyes

JAMES LINCOLN COLLIER AND CHRISTOPHER COLLIER
Jump Ship to Freedom
War Comes to Willy Freeman

CAROLINE B. COONEY
The Face on the Milk Carton

ROBERT CORMIER
The Chocolate War
Beyond the Chocolate War
Fade
We All Fall Down


ROALD DAHL
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
James and the Giant Peach

LOIS DUNCAN
Killing Mr. Griffin

S. E. HINTON
Taming the Star Runner
Tex

ANNETTE KLAUSE
Blood and Chocolate

LOIS LOWRY
The Giver
The Anastasia Krupnik Series
Anastasia Krupnik
Anastasia Absolutely
Anastasia Again
Anastasia at This Address
Anastasia at Your Service
Anastasia Has the Answers
Anastasia on Her Own
Anastasia’s Chosen Career
Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst

GARY PAULSEN
Harris and Me
Nightjohn

ROBERT NEWTON PECK
A Day No Pigs Would Die

PHILIP PULLMAN
The Golden Compass
The White Mercedes

THOMAS ROCKWELL
How to Eat Fried Worms

LOUIS SACHAR
The Boy Who Lost His Face

ZILPHA KEATLEY SNYDER
The Headless Cupid

THEODORE TAYLOR
The Cay

BOOKS FOR ADULTS

ISABEL ALLENDE
House of the Spirits

MAYA ANGELOU
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

MARGARET ATWOOD
Handmaid's Tale

RAY BRADBURY
Fahrenheit 451

DAN BROWN
Da Vinci Code

PAT CONROY
Water is Wide

BRYCE COURTENAY
Power of One

BRET EASTON ELLIS
American Psycho

RALPH ELLISON
Invisible Man

WILLIAM FAULKNER
As I Lay Dying

ERNEST J. GAINES
A Lesson Before Dying

ROBERT GRAVES
I Claudius

DAVID GUTERSON
Snow Falling on Cedars

JOHN IRVING
A Prayer for Owen Meany

JAMES JOYCE
Ulysses

MALCOLM X
Autobiography of Malcolm X

TONI MORRISON
Bluest Eye

VLADIMIR NABOKOV
Lolita

TIM O'BRIEN
Things They Carried

CHUCK PALAHNIUK
Choke

BORIS PASTERNAK
Doctor Zhivago

MICHAEL POLLAN
Botany of Desire

PHILIP ROTH
Portnoy's Complaint

SALMAN RUSHDIE
Satanic Verses

WILLIAM STYRON
Sophie's Choice

THE FREEDOM WRITERS
Freedom Writers Diary: Movie-Tie-In

KURT VONNEGUT
Slaughterhouse-Five

Killer Bunnies Board

It's just a card game. Really.

The girls turned us on to it.

The goals are :

1) Get a carrot and

2) Have at least one bunny alive at the end of the game.

Once all the booster packs are acquired, you have an 11.5 inch stack of cards a bunch of dice, pawns, stuff, detritus, and other stuff.

Playing the game gets spread all over a table and there's no set spot for draw, discard, dead bunnies, used weapons, money, cabbage, etc.... so. While others are devising a carrying case, (which was pretty cool) I devised a board...



The black box in the middle is modeled after the Minilith (Bunny geeks would understand). It's about a foot tall and holds all of the cards. It's removable from the board center for easy carrying. And can lay on it's side on the board with a lid over the whole board, hat box sized.

The lid for the minilith, (pictured unpainted below), also doubles as a cribbage-style peg board on the inside for keeping track of which player killed the most bunnies. That's not really part of the game, but we're morbid that way.



This area is fashioned after the Carrot Top Casino (Bunny Geeks would also know this joint), and it's where the dice and detritus sit until needed.



There's a spot for everything I could think of . . .the Carrot/Zodiac/Mysterious Place cards are in the chest on the bank side under the starter cards. And the toxic compost pile for used cabbage/water/defense cards is on the other side.



The whole thing is on a lazy susan. I have more painting to do - like scared worshipping bunnies near the minilith, zombie bunnies in the dead bunny spot, etc. - and may hand it off to the girls to paint while I'm in school.

And here it is in play, featuring a great friend of mine.

Fan Mail

I just got a great e-mail from Z in New York. He's a borderline online stalker. (Just kidding.)

He stumbled across my blog a while back, internet surfing for some song lyrics and hit upon my page.

He wrote to me to tell me that he found and read and thoroughly enjoyed it. The craziness, the friends, the hobbies, the fun.

(I'm blushing now.)

Here's why I bring it up...(aside from giving a shout out to Z. HEY!)

I've mentioned it before, and perhaps because we're close to my self-reflection time of the year, it is near the front of my mind.

People are watching.

Not in a sick paranoia kind of way, but people see how you act and what you do. People you know and people you don't know. Your words and deeds travel far and take a bastard life beyond your casual conversations.

What kind of life are you creating?

If your words and deeds are biting and vicious - how do they change or taint others who witness them? Will it encourage them to be kind and good or provide justification for their own biting, vicious deeds?

If one - who is already inundated with bad news on the television and in newspapers - sees only ickiness, what encouragement is there for goodness?

I know, I know, my Blog is an intentional public venue.

However, and here's my thought,

your overheard words and observed deeds are also in the public domain.

How are you changing the world?

Yo! Where've I Been?

Summer freedom is coming to an end.

Today, I plan to do a MAJOR declutter. Not only put stuff in their correct rooms, but also in their correct places within the rooms.

In addition to that, I have a ton of projects at various states of completion and only two weeks before school starts again.

In the knitting arena,
I've got a shawl/scarf, socks, puppet, and bag on knitting needles. I hope to finish the socks and scarf next week while spending four glorious days away from the computer and television and work. Weeeeee! If I don't finish them before school, they may never get done. (Fortunately, one isn't due until November.)

I've also started charting Sinister Bunny for a scarf. I'll be thrilled if it turns out.

I've got some trim to finish painting in the living room. (Most of which is a second coat so I can probably live with it not getting finished for a while.)

I've been working on a game board for Killer Bunnies. I finished assembling it yesterday and the first coat of paint is drying right now. I want to finish it before the four glorious days next week - because I hope to play!

What else, what else? I have all of my school books for the Fall and I already know where to start reading for two of the classes. Will I start before I have to? I dunno.

Mike has also finished his novel and I'm only on chapter 2. I absolutely MUST finish that before school.

So . . . what's on your list?

Rock Gap Cottage

We're working on our cottage, one board at a time and have most of the subfloor done!

So far, it's mostly scavanged wood, and right now it's pretty much a dance floor.

Each month we crunch numbers to see if there's anything 'extra' so we can buy lumber or concrete or nails, and right now the answer is 'no.' So camping next week will include less costly, simple manual labor to clear trees and debris and just 'be' out there thinking forward.

Camping this weekend.

Since we'll be camping this weekend....I also had to add this to www.pimpmyouthouse.blogspot.com

Dear Ellen Degeneres . . .

Dear Ms. Degeneres,

(Obligatory, but subtle, gushing here . . . I really enjoy your personality!)

When I'd heard of the same-sex marriage inroads that California is making and that you plan to marry Portia, I wanted to send you a congratulatory note (so, Congratulations!). My husband and I have been married 4 years this May 20. We were married in Massachusetts, having applied for a license on the first day it was allowed, May 17, 2004. Now we live in West Virginia, where I am a full-time college student and a part-time bartender and although our love is very real, our marriage certificate (at least in W.Va.) is worth less than the paper on which it's printed.

When filing taxes and filling out official forms we must still check the 'single' box and we do not enjoy "the total of 1,138 federal statutory provisions classified to the United States Code in which marital status is a factor in determining or receiving benefits, rights, and privileges.” (GAO-04-353R Defense of Marriage Act - Update to Prior Report).

I think that we are living in exciting and changing times, and am hopeful that you and I and others in the same boat will see the days of marriage equality. I am also hopeful that your celebrity status will add visibility and credibility to our plight. (Our plight being that we are unable to automatically enjoy all those marriage rights without the additional expense of lawyers drawing up legal contracts for privileges that even less committed male/female spouses receive, i.e. medical decisions, visitation, inheritance, etc.)

I am even more hopeful that your marriage and relationship is successful, fulfilling, eternal and full of love and the 'sanctity' of marriage.

The 'sanctity' of marriage, - to me - means the dynamics of building a life together. It's a comfortable melding of personalities and wills and coexistence which offsets the outside pressures of bills, car inspections and evening news. If anyone believes that same-sex marriages will destroy the sanctity of marriage, they probably don't know any life-committed same-sex couples.

Mike, my husband, and I are living 'the American dream,' which means a lot of debt, a few acres of land and building a home, (one board at a time), three dogs, a cat, and looking forward to the rest of our lives together. With or without the marriage license, we are happy together and enjoy the 'sanctity' of marriage (well, not so much enjoying the bills and the evening news), and we wish you, Ellen and Portia, an even greater happiness as well.

Congratulations again,
Chuck Walker

Wowsy Wowsy Woo Woo

Wowsy wowsy woo woo.

That's all I have to say.

After looking at our income and outgo. EEEP!

The price of gas, the price of cigarettes, the price of living 'the dream.'

Wow. Fortunately, Mike and I can both walk to work most of the time.
And I'm supposed to be quitting smoking anyway.

Fortunately I work at a bar and can get a free drink once in a while.

We're walking a thin, thin line.

My Report Card

Straight A's ! ! ! !

However, since I can't do ANYTHING straight, um, a lovely row of A's.

I'm absolutely thrilled! Nothing was really written in stone, so I had to sit and fret until the final grades were posted (today).

Now, where are all the rich relatives who send me large bills for each A?
(I'm not afraid to beg. Click on PayPal and send dough to poizniv@gmail.com !)

Hmmmmm? Because this school thing (and that taxes thing) has REALLY taken a toll on our finances. (The pets are getting a little edgy when we flip through the pet recipe book.) And the tip jar at work seems to be broken.

(Remember Save Dora?)

No, we won't eat the pets.

Happy dance, happy dance, happy dance.

Now I'm going to go work in the yard and sunshine. What a great day.
Fiddle dee dee we'll worry about finances tomorrow.

Prissmass 08 Quicky

This video is just to give you an idea of the size of the Prissmas fire.

Because of college schedules, we didn't have much time plan an outrageously traditional Prissmas. However, a wonderful time was had by all. And we did hit most of the traditions.

The Prisspops caught a little flack because they weren't technically liquid, and they both looked and tasted like poo. Dark rum and pina colada Jell-o shooters are awful.

It was an early night, getting to bed by 3 a.m.

The spitting liquor, brought by the ladies, was absolutely horrendous.

The new addition of a baby keg, provided by the ever thoughtful Lady Prisspott, was and is fabulous. It should just fit in my lunchbox.

More when there's time. I'm a bit drained today.

The Best of the Westside Chadwicks

Merry Prissmas Everyone!

Today is Prissmas!